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Estrogen replacement therapy has become increasingly popular for post-menopausal women. The effects of estrogen replacement on bone, liver, and other tissues in generally healthy post-menopausal women have been documented. However, laboratory studies have long shown that estrogen also affects hemodynamics (blood vessel function). To better understand the hemodynamic effects of estrogen in healthy post-menopausal women, Doppler echocardiography was used to study blood flow through the aortas of 24 women treated with estrogen and of 19 untreated women. After 2.5 months, the estrogen treated women had significant increases in blood flow velocity, flow acceleration, and ejection time. These changes correlated with increased stroke volume (volume of blood pumped per cycle) and increased blood flow, are probably related to improved heart contractility and dilation of blood vessels. The estrogen- induced changes in hemodynamics may contribute to the known protective effect of estrogen on cardiovascular status. (Consumer Summary produced by Reliance Medical Information, Inc.)

BACKGROUND: The aim of this study was to investigate a possible role for interleukin-6 (IL-6) and tumour necrosis factor (TNF-α) as pre-operative markers for the diagnosis of ovarian torsion. METHODS: Twenty consecutive patients admitted to the gynaecological emergency room with suspected clinical diagnosis of ovarian torsion were prospectively assigned to the study. Blood samples were drawn pre-operatively and examined for serum concentrations of IL-6 and TNF-α. Surgeons were blinded to laboratory results prior to laparoscopy. RESULTS: The pre-operative diagnosis of ovarian torsion was confirmed during an urgent diagnostic laparoscopy in 8 (40%) patients. The surgical diagnosis among the remaining 12 patients was a large ovarian cyst not in torsion. In six out of eight (75.0%) patients with ovarian torsion serum IL-6 concentrations were elevated. None of the 12 patients without torsion had elevated serum IL-6 concentrations. This difference was statistically significant (P < 0.001). There was no significant difference in the proportion of women with elevated serum TNF-α concentrations, two of eight (25.0%) patients with torsion and four of 12 (33.3%) control cases. CONCLUSIONS: Elevated serum IL-6 concentrations, but not serum TNF-α concentrations, were significantly associated with the occurrence of ovarian torsion. In patients with vague clinical signs of ovarian torsion, serum IL-6 might help to distinguish which patients should undergo diagnostic laparoscopy.

The aim of this study was to investigate whether, in patients with antiphospholipid syndrome, anticardiolipin antibodies pass from mother to offspring sera and amniotic fluid. Eleven patients with antiphospholipid syndrome (study group) and 11 healthy controls, matched by maternal and gestational age (control group) were prospectively examined for the presence of anticardiolipin antibodies in the cord blood during labour, and amniotic fluid during vaginal or Caesarean delivery. Three neonates (27.3%) in the study group had anticardiolipin antibodies in the cord blood, while none had them in the control group. Anticardiolipin antibodies were detected in the amniotic fluid in six (54.5%) of the study group pregnancies, compared with none in the control group. No adverse neonatal outcome was noted except for significantly lower (P < 0.0006) mean birth weight in the study group. Anticardiolipin antibodies can pass the placenta and be detected in fetal cord blood and amniotic fluid. This finding might be used in the future for the assessment of pregnancies with antiphospholipid syndrome.